


Mission Accomplished

by lumos_haails



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hugs, Insomnia, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Friendship, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Other, Platonic Cuddling, Sleep, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 22:27:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20235382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumos_haails/pseuds/lumos_haails
Summary: In which Natasha helps Tony fall asleep.





	Mission Accomplished

It was a few minutes to midnight and Tony sat upright on his bed, leaning his back against the headboard. In his lap lay his StarkPad on which he mindlessly swiped at. 

He couldn't say he was actually focused on whatever he was doing at the moment. His head clouded with rubbish he planned on suppressing during the day and his eyes were rimmed red and watered as the light from his tablet returned his stare.

He wanted to sleep, he _really really really _ wanted to, but the horrible truth was he couldn't. He hated laying awake for hours and not being able to drift off to a well-needed slumber. He grew the most frustrated due to this fact and spent his nights angry and quite sad, as he had no choice but to occupy his time in other ways.

He had completely given up working late in his lab at nights, solely for the reason that he hated worrying his teammates, so he now usually retreats to his bedroom.

But Tony frequently became so consumed with exhaustion. "J, how long?" he whispered as he threw his tablet on the bedside table and turned on his side.

"Almost forty-two hours Sir," and Tony held his head in his hands, roughly wiping the tears of frustration that had escaped onto his cheeks. He kicked his legs off the bed and stood up, his head spinning with every step he took.

He made his way out of the room, trying his best to maneuver himself in the pitch black, and proceeded to the kitchen. However, on his way, he suddenly bumped into what he assumed to be, another body and both persons exchanged yelps of surprise.

"Shit, shit sorry!" Tony gasped out, bringing his hand to his chest in fright and then reaching for the other to pull them up.

His hand found a smaller one and he squinted at the tiny figure in the darkness of the communal living room. " JARVIS can you put on the dimmer lights?"

Then he found himself hand in hand with none other than the Black Widow. "Ah, Agent Romanov. Pleasure bumping into you this fine evening."

"Stark, it's midnight. I just went for some water." she gave him a cold look, but kept her eyes on him. 

Tony released her hand and the pair stood awkwardly. Tony shrugged and continued to the kitchen while the assassin followed, and jumped to sit on the counter where he met the coffee machine.

"That's a bit unwise."

He looked up at her at her comment and she winced at the tiredness that was clearly evident in his face, not to mention the badly wiped tear streaks and cracking, chapped lips.

She clicked the coffee machine off, not even two seconds after he switched it on. He gave her a look of annoyance and his hand reached for it once again, only this time she grabbed his hand harshly . "You don't have to keep doing this."

He now stood between her legs which dangled over the edge of the counter and looked over her shoulder to avoid eye contact. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's not a secret. They can probably live with the facade Tony, but I can see right through it, and trust me I'm worried about you."

"Oh, not this again."

"No really, we all have problems but we fix them _together." _ Her eyes were filled with concern as they scanned his face. "Now come one. Let me take you to bed." and it wasn't a question, but rather a stern request that Tony knew better than to object to or to retort to with an unnecessary sexual joke.

_Fine, he'll entertain her wishes. But only for a little._

Natasha held his shoulders and jumped off the counter, and grabbed his arm, dragging him behind her. When he realized this was actually happening, panic settled in his gut. "I don't think you understand Nat," he sighed and tried to slow her down by pulling her from walking. "I can't do, I can't sleep." and as he resumed walking reluctantly, she couldn't help but feel sorry at her friend's soft and painful tone.

"It's alright I promise. You can just keep me company if you want." she rubbed her thumb over his knuckles as she pulled him into her room and kicked to door closed behind her. Tony hadn't realized they weren't headed to _his_ room until they arrived and she finally released him from her strong grip. He stood awkwardly as he wiped his clammy hands on his shirt and watched as she climbed into the bed, pulling the covers down next to her, indicating for him to join her.

Tony slowly obliged and shuffled onto the bed, turning his body to face her, her green eyes locking with his own muddy brown ones. 

He didn't want to admit it but he did feel better. His head filled with comfort as it hit Natasha's soft pillow, and the duvet covering up to his torso smelt of her wonderful perfume. He absolutely didn't want to say _this_, but the company was nice and it felt good to have someone during the night like this. He'd always be alone, physically and emotionally, and the feeling of the Black Widow's unfamiliar aura, radiating next to him, made him feel oddly at ease. 

But he was going to keep her awake and deprive _her_ of her own sleep and he felt horrible. Tony shifted with hesitation and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'll just keep you up. You shouldn't have brought me here." and he began to gently tremble, turning to face the ceiling. She brought her hand to his shoulder and whispered soothingly, "Tony it's alright calm down."

"No- no I'm really sorry I try Nat. I really do but I can't do it. I can't sleep. At least not intentionally, I seem to have no problem passing out from exhaustion at times" he had lost all the patience he had with himself and melted with emotions, something he couldn't say he did often. Natasha's face turned with sympathy and then shock as Tony wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her neck.

"Gosh Nat, I'm so fucking tired." he mumbled against her and she ran her fingers through his hair and held his back with her other hand. 

"Is it the nightmares?"

He pulled out of her embrace but kept his hands on hers, fidgeting with her fingers. " Yeah well it's because of my attempts to avoid them, that's when the problem started. I was so desperate to stop them, I just didn't go to sleep. Now look where that got me." 

Her eyes were closed but he knew she was listening quite intently. "We're here for you, you know. You can come to us, to me. You always avoid getting help, but we do care about you, even though we may act like we don't."

He chuckled lightly, "This isn't my thing Nat. I don't do this, any of it. Talking to one of my oldest and only friends, about feelings, in her bed? Hell no." He had a joking tone but there was a ring of truth that Natasha had no trouble in picking up.

She shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe all you need is a friend," and there they lay for hours. Eyes closed but awake and they breathed in sync. Natasha had her arm draped across his chest she rested her head on his arm. They were in complete, yet comfortable silence and she watched as he finally fell asleep, giving into the exhaustion that completely consumed him. The corners of her lips slightly raised as she gently pushed the hair out of his sweaty forehead. 

"Mission accomplished." and she lightly pressed a kiss to his sleeping cheek and closed her eyes to join him.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for a Tony & Nat friendship.


End file.
